A Random musing about grace

Thought I would share today’s random musing with you…

It’s about gracefulness.

One of the hallmarks of any highly skilled person, in my opinion at least, is just how effortless and easy they make a difficult task look – graceful almost. Graceful like watching someone dance spiritedly across something fragile like glass.

Watch skilled climbers climb a rock face; they do so as if unburdened by gravity, gliding across the surface with careful yet purposeful movements, completely aware of the dangers they face, moving firmly with intention, yet with no wasted energy.  

The same goes for weightlifters hoisting multiple times their body weight overhead with grace – they have a healthy respect for the weight but move with intention and grace with zero energy wasted. They travel the most efficient path to get the job done and there is something so beautiful about that.

That’s skill. That’s time served. That’s experience.

But there is something beyond that. There is that little extra flare a skilled practitioner brings to their movements. A sense of artistry. You can see these highly skilled individuals truly physically enjoy their movements and perform them as such with the utmost beauty and grace.

Have you ever seen a skilled chef operate a knife? It’s a thing of grace and beauty. The knife dances and the food seemingly falls apart into identically sized little morsels.

What are you on about Phil?

Grappling is or at least should be no different.

Highly skilled grapplers move with grace and beauty – like a spider dancing across its web trying not to break any delicate threads. There's no thudding, banging, or clumsy movements. No stomping, no jarring, and less percussion. It’s grace. Gentle, artistic, precise movements rather than beating your way through the actions.

It’s something I’m constantly striving for with everything I do. I want to practice movements and skills over and over until the jarring, clunking nature of the movement subsides and the effortless grace takes over.

I want to get the job done, but I want to do so effortlessly, artistically, beautifully, with a sense of ease and enjoyment.

An impossible goal for sure, but so is mastering jiu-jitsu, so join me in aiming high.